Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 December 2025
Often, students generate a research question, formulate hypotheses, and wonder, “What statistics should I use?” These statistics, drilled into their brains from previous courses, sometimes contain little to no meaningful associations to real-world concepts. It is the transference of these skills (or lack of!) that can hang up a new researcher on how to explore their hypotheses. This chapter brings students through the process of selecting successful research questions and the formulation of hypotheses. Dependent and independent variables are reviewed along with cause-and-effect relationships. The relationship between statistical power, statistical significance, effect size, and sample size is discussed along with step-by-step instructions for estimating sample size.
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